Is it just me, or is this billboard creepy as hell?

[lightningandsnow]

No pictures, sadly - my camera is pretty broken and I have no data plan on my phone.

There was a billboard for the UJA (United Jewish Appeal) saying "In the war of ideas, are we sending our children unarmed?"

What, are we training our kids to be little God Warriors now?

Yeah, thanks but no thanks.

(Oh, by the way, before anyone calls me anti-semetic for posting this, I'm Jewish. Just not creepy. Okay, I'm creepy in other ways, but not in that way. :P )

[GoneOffShore]

1. Perhaps it refers to critical thinking skills?

[surrealAmerican]

2. I also dislike the war metaphor here.

You see it everywhere. I guess coming up with a new metaphor would take more creativity than they have.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I think the statement was metaphorical,

suggesting that if there is a "war of ideas," you should have some ammunition on your side. I don't think it's particularly offensive.

[proteus_lives]

7. +1

[Curmudgeoness]

4. I kind of like it. Don't stop with children. Think about so many

who do not know how to think. That is how I see this.

[Joey Kidd]

5. "before anyone calls me anti-semetic for posting this, I'm Jewish."

Can I call you anti-symmetric ? :hide:

[WinkyDink]

6. "semetic" = irony.

[begin_within]

8. In the war of ideas, God hates religion.

All religions are cults and God hates them all. Yes, it's creepy as heaven/hell.

[Red Riding Hood]

11. that seems so black and white

religion is created by the people who practice them -- to best
suit their spiritual (and possibly political, crowd control,
etc. needs too)  But how do you know that GOD hates them all?
or perhaps this is a joke.. 

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. I like it...

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...it's a riff off of the classic, "I feel guilty engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed man (woman)."
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Particularly true about RW'ers.
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[struggle4progress]

10. "War of ideas" is an old, well-worn phrase: it didn't originate with that billboard.

Here's FDR in a 1942 letter to WW Norton: "... a war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns ..."

:shrug:

I haven't found an image, but web-descriptions indicate the current UJA campaign involves a B&W photo of a kid's face with the quote you give. That's vague, but an obvious reading is: education is crucial in the struggle for a better world. That use of the word "war" is not a recent sudden innovation in Jewish thought: in the 13th or 14th century, the Jewish astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher Levi Ben Gershom wrote a long tract called "The Wars of the Lord," some parts of which are still useful to cite in modern history of mathematics courses

:shrug:

I'm no expert on UJA philanthropy: my impression is that I really like some of what they do -- and I can fully support their right to promote their organizational image with harmless touchie-feelie billboards, without carefully deciding first whether I completely agree with them about everything

:shrug:

[MrScorpio]

12. Any idea what it means and for whose children?

Seems awfully generalized for a billboard

[Curmudgeoness]

13. I have two opinions on that. It is either

a statement on the poor quality of our education system, or it is to cause discussion and thought.

[TheManInTheMac]

14. Seems kind of apt to me.

Everyday in GD is a war of ideas. And a whole lot of unarmed people.